Bystanders

by Phillip Murrell

  Tina cries as she listens to Power’s prediction. The fear rushes back.

  Power abruptly stops his rant. “Relax, Doc. He’s probably dead. Yuri likes to get his point across right away. If you’re still here, it probably means that he isn’t.”

  “I hope you’re right. I’ve barely been able to function the last few days.”

  “Don’t sweat it. You’re probably at the end of a long line of people that Yuri hates right now.”

  “I just need to get my mind off it.” Tina grabs Power’s chart. “Since I’m here, how are you feeling?”

  Claire sits at the anchor’s desk of her own show. She’s all smiles as she gets ready for the first airing of her new program. She looks at a text on her phone from Benji.

  I know you’ll blow them all away. I’m so proud of you.

  Claire smiles. She may have found the one.

  “Knock ‘em dead, Claire,” Larry says.

  Claire smiles. She knows exactly what to do. Larry is all smiles when the show begins.

  The promo plays and Claire begins. “Good afternoon, I’m Claire Kennedy, and you’re watching my new show, The Intrepid Reporter.”

  Larry rolls his eyes. He must not approve of the name.

  Claire continues. “I’ll report the facts as I see them each day. Obviously, I’ll focus a lot on First Line. Please forgive me for giving my opinion up front.”

  Larry nods. She knows this is what he needed.

  Claire rolls along. “Many of you probably expected this. You want to know what First Line is going to do to help the city. Polls are showing that only a third of you still support him as a hero. I consider myself in that third.”

  Larry receives reports from his staff. He gives Claire a thumbs up as she speaks to her audience.

  “Many of you are upset that it took a billionaire shooting the city to pieces before police protection was increased. Many became even more upset when it looked like the underprivileged neighborhoods didn’t see this increase. In fact, the increase meant fewer police patrols were available for those neighborhoods that needed help the most. I know that many of you are already protesting this. I ask you to stop and calm down. I ask this, because I don’t know what First Line will do if these protests become violent.”

  Larry practically gasps. He couldn’t have expected the turn Claire just took.

  “I’ve reported many times on being a confidant for First Line. The truth is, I’ve only met him once. The time he rescued me. I can’t even use the word ‘met,’ because all he did was defend me from four thugs, then call me a fool. We edited his comments to leave that part out. We also took out the part where he told me to tell my ‘story any way I wanted to.’ And, I did.”

  Larry looks angrier and angrier as he listens and turns completely red. Claire knows he can’t pull the footage because it’s going out live. Once again, she has dictated the terms of the story.

  “I don’t even know if his name is First Line. In fact, I’m sure it isn’t. It just sounded good. I want a loyal population of viewers, and I swear that we’ll bring a look at the good that First Line is doing, not throw him under the bus. However, I am admitting to a lie. One lie, but one big lie. This would be the time to change the channel, if you can’t take me as I am. I told you that I would be intrepid. I hope that many of you will still be watching after these messages.”

  The program goes to commercial break, and Larry storms up to Claire. “Bitch! Are you trying to teach me a lesson?”

  Claire anticipated this reaction, but she doesn’t show any emotion. “Boss, we have to come clean. We can’t just keep digging our well of lies deeper. If the ratings take a massive hit, then fire me. You’ll be justified. I just have faith that our viewers can be forgiving. Maybe even First Line will forgive us.”

  Larry scratches his neck before speaking again. “You better be right. We’re definitely re-negotiating your salary.”

  Claire nods. She anticipated this as well. “Two minutes until the commercial break is over. If you want to scream, you better get it out of your system now.”

  Larry sighs and slumps his shoulders. “Claire, you have the biggest set of balls I’ve ever seen. I hope they get you through yet another mess. Do what you have to, and if it’s any consolation, I’m rooting for you.”

  Larry gives a half-hearted smile.

  “Thanks, Boss.”

  A single tear goes down Claire’s face. She wipes it away before the show goes live again.

  The police are assembled in their briefing room. Captain Jefferson stands before them with Sergeant Love standing behind him with crossed arms.

  Captain Jefferson addresses the formation. “Alright, ladies and gentlemen, tonight is going to be a rough one.”

  There are murmurs from the cops. They’re all clearly on edge.

  Captain Jefferson continues. “We’ve had reasonably peaceful protests all day, but in another hour, it will be dark. The darkness will bring out the violent ‘protesters.’ These people will want to steal and vandalize, and they’ll do it under the cover of being upset about a lack of police protection. Therefore, we’ll have riot gear equipped and formations tight.”

  Maria looks especially nervous.

  “I’ve asked Sergeant Love to go over our riot control procedures. Sergeant Love, the floor is yours.”

  Sergeant Love steps forward. There’s a table in front of him with some of the equipment that they’ll use.

  “For you rookies, pay attention, because things are about to get scary. For you veterans, you damn well better pay attention. You may have been in a hundred riots, but you’ve never had to worry about someone flying out of the sky and scooping you up.”

  More people murmur, but mostly in agreement.

  “Now that we’re on the same page, in front of you is our gear. We will, of course, be in our hard-tactical attire. This consists of a helmet with face shield, body armor, shield, and baton.”

  Sergeant Love holds up each piece of equipment as he mentions it, then continues. “We’ll break out into groups of fifty officers, then assemble in a box formation.”

  Sergeant Love draws this on a nearby white board.

  “Each side will have ten officers. In the center will be three officers armed with gas and other non-lethal rounds. There will be three teams of two that will act as arrest officers and a team leader in the center of our box.”

  Sergeant Love adds to his diagram as he describes duties.

  “We’ll all move as one element. I want you stepping in unison and hitting your baton against your shield every time your left foot strikes the ground.”

  Maria raises her hand to many groans. “Why are we hitting our shields?”

  More people groan.

  “Shut up!” Sergeant Love commands. “The rookie has a good question, and I’m sure others were thinking the same. Tonight is not the night for this shit! Every officer needs to be aware of why she’s doing what she’s told to do.”

  Maria gives a thankful look to Sergeant Love.

  Sergeant Love answers her question. “Pecos, we hit and stomp in unison to make a loud and intimidating appearance. These rioters are our fellow citizens. They are not our enemy.”

  Sergeant Love stares straight at Smith. “I repeat, they are not our enemy.”

  Smith doesn’t react.

  Satisfied, Sergeant Love continues. “Most of these people aren’t thinking straight. Once the shit gets serious, they’ll want to go home. We’re trying to speed them to this decision. The arrest teams will be looking out for the ringleaders and rabble rousers. Those guys will be taken out of the equation. Also, anyone who is clearly committing a crime, such as vandalism and battery, will get a new pair of bracelets.”

  Heads nod in understanding.

  “Now, there are going to be a hell of a lot more of them than us out there. So, don’t freak the hell out if you get separated from the box. We’ll pick you back up. We need to give the people an escape path, so sometimes they’ll be runnin
g in between us. Just remain calm. They’re definitely more scared of us. Are there any questions?”

  Mendez raises his hand.

  “It looks like the rookie is rubbing off on you,” Smith taunts.

  There’s some laughter from the other cops.

  “Shut the hell up, Smith. Why do you always have to be a dick?” Mendez shouts.

  Sergeant Love shuts it down. “All of you, shut the hell up! I swear, you’re really working that last nerve. Smith, any more shit from you and you’ll be stuck with ride along duty!”

  Smith crosses his arms in open defiance, which Sergeant Love chooses to ignore. There’s insufficient time.

  “Mendez, what’s your question?”

  Mendez looks at Smith with a triumphant glare. “What are we supposed to do if any of those super vigilantes show up? It’s not like batons smacked in unison are going to worry them.”

  There are a lot of voices agreeing with Mendez. It’s clearly the biggest concern of the night.

  Sergeant Love does his best to answer. “Honestly, tonight they’re not our concern. If they want to surrender, then yeah, slap the cuffs on them. However, I doubt that’ll be the case.”

  “So, what are we supposed to do?” Mendez asks for further clarity.

  “You ignore them,” Sergeant Love simply answers. “If the fight at the Osaka Compound can be used as an indicator, they probably won’t attack us. You’ll only engage them if they engage one of us first.”

  Mendez nods.

  Sergeant Love adds a bit more information. “Mayor Clarke called the governor a few nights back, and the National Guard has been mobilized. They should be here tonight, so we only have to maintain the peace for a few more hours. Then, we’ll have all of the help we need.”

  Sergeant Love looks around the room and gives some reassuring nods.

  “I know you’re ready for this. For many, it will be the first time, but it isn’t like you’ve seen in the movies. It’ll be mostly scared people who realized too late that they were in way over their heads. The rest will be drunk, or the people you bust on a normal Saturday night.”

  Sergeant Love looks at his watch, then at Captain Jefferson. Captain Jefferson steps forward.

  “Alright, you heard Sergeant Love. You know your groups. Everyone needs to get into his or her hardtac and prepare to move out.”

  The room is dismissed. Mendez grabs Maria and pulls her aside. “Why did you do that again?”

  Maria looks confused. “Do what?”

  Mendez quickly responds, “You’re a good actor, Maria, but I’m starting to pick up on your tells.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “You keep asking annoying questions with obvious answers, and I know you already know them. It’s almost like you want people to think you’re a fool.”

  Maria’s face briefly indicates surprise, but she quickly recovers.

  “So, what’s up?” Mendez presses.

  “I know I’m attractive. People expect attractive women to be ditzy. I play up to those expectations, so I can surprise them later. I find that it’s helped me with getting ahead in life.”

  “More so than being a pretty face?”

  “Yes.”

  Mendez folds his arms, then shakes his head. “No, that isn’t it. That might be part of it, but I know that you have a secret. It seems like a big secret. I don’t think you have to let me in, but we’re partners. I’ll keep that secret when you’re ready to share it.”

  Mendez nods again and heads off to gear up. Maria stands there alone. She appears to have a determined look in her eyes. The naivety of the past seems absent.

  The sun has finally set. The protesters have turned from a peaceful demonstration into the initial stages of a violent mob. The police are in their riot control gear and moving through the city.

  “Mendez, I don’t know if I can do this,” Maria says to her partner.

  “Yes, you can, Maria. I know how tough you are. Don’t forget that you have Karen and Carlos on your other side.”

  The other two cops give a thumbs up and a wave respectively. The rioters see the police and start to scream at them.

  The ringleader addresses his crowd. “You see, people? The man has sent his goons to attack us. Why are they all armored up? We haven’t done anything. We haven’t burned anything or broke anything, but now we’re already being treated like criminals.”

  Sergeant Love is the team leader of this formation. He uses a bullhorn to address the crowd. “Citizens, please go home. You may protest again tomorrow, but go home. Martial law is being enforced.”

  The crowd starts to scream at the police.

  The ringleader seems to urge them on. “Martial law? Why? You scared the poor are going to burn your overly protected utopia to the ground? It’s okay for us to live in fear every day, but one bad car chase through the rich people’s back yard and now we all get a bedtime?”

  There are more screams from the crowd. “We haven’t done nothing! You leave us alone!”

  A man steps forward with a lit Molotov cocktail. He throws it at the cops. “Have a drink, pigs!”

  The bottle travels through the air and shatters well in front of the police line.

  Sergeant Love reassures his people. “Don’t overreact. Keep calm. Stomp and slap in unison.”

  The cops start to move forward. Some in the crowd start to run away, but not many.

  Sergeant Love speaks calmly to the mob. “Please, people, go home. Sleep it off. There’s no reason anyone has to get hurt tonight.”

  A door to a building along the street opens. Yuri stands inside with dozens of armed guards. He holds his chest a little.

  Yuri nods to his men, and they spill into the streets.

  Maria points them out to her fellow police officers. “Look!”

  Maria’s warning comes too late. Yuri and his soldiers shoot into the police box formation.

  Several cops go down, dead or injured. The moment the shots are fired, the crowd panics. They charge the cops and many get shot also as Yuri’s hit squad keeps firing into the mass.

  There’s a collision of bodies. Cops desperately try to help their wounded, engage the shooters, protect the “innocent” rioters, and keep from being trampled. It’s a tall order.

  Maria is separated from Mendez. Carlos is separated from Karen. The box formation is a complete loss, and even some of the police run away from the shots. The gas team freaks and just starts shooting tear gas into every direction. The cops hadn’t put on their masks, so they’re also feeling the effects of the gas.

  Carlos blindly tries to locate his partner. “Shit! Karen, where are you?”

  Carlos feels bodies rushing past him, but he can’t open his eyes. He can’t hear his partner or any of his friends, for that matter. He does hear shots accentuating the chaos.

  Carlos feels a bottle hit him against the head, dislodging his helmet. He puts his hands up and touches the injury. He feels warm, sticky blood. Carlos swings his baton wildly and feels it connect, but he doesn’t know against whom. He works his way to the side of the street until he can get his back against a wall.

  Carlos winces and speaks to himself. “At least most of the shooting has stopped.”

  He tries to open his eyes and partially succeeds. He can see fist fights everywhere. A lot of cops lie in the street. Some fight for survival, and others attempt to perform first aid on the injured.

  Carlos can’t see any of the officers he’s looking for, specifically Karen.

  “Karen! Karen!”

  The crowd swarms his location, and Carlos knows he’s in trouble. He uses his baton to break out a glass door and goes inside the shop.

  Mike frantically tries to triage all the riot victims who are coming in. He’s overwhelmed, as are all the other nurses. Early stages of panic test the limits of his resolve.

  Mike issues orders to nearby nurses. “Get the red tags into a room now. Yellow and green tags will have to stay in the waiting room or outside. We d
on’t have the hands right now for anything else. Make sure to call Yama and ask for any support.”

  “Got it,” a nurse responds.

  Mike attempts to organize the chaos. He feels his phone vibrate in his pocket for the sixth time in ten minutes. Mike looks at it and sees it’s from his wife again.

  “Doesn’t she realize I’m busy?” He puts the phone to his ear and begins to chastise his wife. “I don’t have time for this.”

  Mike’s wife, Mary, screams into his ear, “Mike, help me!”

  Mike immediately becomes overly concerned. He’s never heard that level of terror in his wife. “Mary, what’s happening? What’s wrong?”

  A sinister voice gets on the phone. “Mr. Folsen, we have your wife. Do you want to know why?”

  Mike immediately remembers his conversation with Tina a few days earlier.

  The sinister voice continues to taunt. “Oh, come now, it’s so much more fun if you play along.”

  “If you hurt her,” Mike says.

  Laughter comes from the phone. “We’ve already hurt her, Mike. We’re going to hurt her some more. We love it when they’re submissive like this. It feels so much better.”

  Mike clenches his fists as tears stream down his face. “Please, let her go. We haven’t done anything to you.”

  “No, you haven’t, but your friend has. We have to make her pay, and that means you have to pick up some of the debt.”

  Mike falls to his knees.

  “Mike, don’t flake on me just yet. Your son needs you to be strong.”

  Mike’s eyes flash with anger. “What have you done to my son?”

  “Nothing yet, but we’ve been passing his picture around and Ramone here really likes him. The sick bastard prefers them young. Good news for Mary, but I suggest you get home quickly and try to save your boy. It probably won’t do much good, but what kind of father lets his son suffer like that?”

  Mike hears Mary sobbing in the background between masculine grunts. It shatters his heart.

  “Please, leave my family alone. Please. I’m begging you.”

  “I figure your wife has an hour or two left to live, tops. Then it’s just a quick drive over to your place. Tick tock, Mike. I recommend that you leave work now.”